ABSTRACT
Background: Hepatitis A virus [HAV] is highly contagious in individuals living in crowded conditions such as military centers
Objectives: This study try to investigate the seroprevalence of HAV immunity among Iranian soldiers and determine whether vaccination should be used for military draftees
Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 1554 soldiers were recruited through random clustering sampling. Serum anti-HAV antibody was measured by Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA].Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS
Results: A total of 1554 male soldiers with age ranged from 18 to 34 years [mean age: 21.2 +/- 1.9 y] at baseline were evaluated. Overall, 80.3% of the analyzed specimens were anti-HAV seropositive. The seroprevalence rates increased significantly with the age
Conclusion: Our results suggest that generally vaccination for HAV is not necessary for Iranian military draftees. But the vaccination is recommended for high-risk groups including anti-HAV seronegative soldiers